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A city police officer stands by during Friday’s Idle No More protest at The Parkway and Lansdowne St. W. City police officers will get raises of 3% in October, 1.75% on Jan. 1, 2014 and 1.25% on July 1, 2014 Clifford Skarstedt/Peterborough Examiner/QMI Agency

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Everything is up for discussion, from expanded roles for the private sector to integrating police services, as officials continue to meet in Ottawa on Thursday at a national summit on policing costs.

There’s been a lot of philosophy and a lot of ideas kicking around, but it’s probably at the 30,000-foot level,” said city police Const. Dave McFadden, president of both the Peterborough Police Association and the Ontario Police Association, who is at the summit. “We’re looking at things overall as compared to getting right down to the meat and potatoes.”

McFadden attended a session by representatives from U.K. police forces that implemented cost-cutting measures including eliminating positions and setting up “a system of community police officers similar to our auxiliary.”

That move increased the police presence, “but didn’t provide any further security,” McFadden said. “They got lots of visibility but if something happened, they still had to call a police officer.”

The U.K. forces also froze recruitment, reduced numbers through attrition and required staff to retire as soon as they became eligible to do so.

Another example of cost-cutting could be a reduction in police duties that are not “criminal-based,” McFadden said.

“Of all the duties police have traditionally done or have inherited, only about 20% are criminal based,” he said, “because we are the social safety net. The other 80% are all the other things we have to do such as dealing with marginalized people, mental-health cases, anything another social agency won’t do.”

McFadden said he hopes the summit will lead to further discussion on “moving policing forward.”

“I would like to see further dialogue at the federal level,” he said. “Times are changing and we have to change with them. The way it is right now, something’s got to give. We recognize that money’s not there, so you have to be innovative with what you’ve got.”